Court: TN Virtual Academy can remain open

Teachers, parents and students rallied at the state Capitol earlier this year in support of keeping Tennessee Virtual Academy open. The failing online public school was set to close this year.(Photo: Shelley Mays / File / The Tennessean)Buy Photo

Former state education commissioner Kevin Huffman last July ordered the school shut down because of continual poor academic performance. Current education commissioner Candice McQueen later upheld his decision.

In March, two families from the school filed a lawsuit against McQueen, saying a statute she exercised to order the school closed was improperly used.

A judge in Davidson County Chancery Court ruled in favor of the Tennessee Virtual Academy families Friday.

A state statute passed in 2013 gives the education commissioner authority to close a virtual school that fails to demonstrate student learning gains above a Level 1, the lowest score on a 1-5 scale, for three consecutive years.

Tara Swafford, attorney for the TNVA families, said the statute was improperly used.

The education commissioners used state testing data for school years 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 as the basis for closing the school, but really should have not counted until 2013-14, Swafford said.

The statute is prospective, not retroactive, she said.

"She can't reach back before passage of the statute for the three years," said Swafford, referring to McQueen. "It is not what the statute says."

"We fought for TNVA because TNVA is the only school that works for my grandson, Austin," Patti Posen, a plaintiff in the case, said in a news release. "When the judge ruled in court, Austin said it best: 'We saved our school today,' "

The Tennessee Department of Education did not have a comment Friday on the case, spokesperson Ashley Ball said in an email.

Swafford said the judge will issue a written ruling next week.

TNVA is the largest online public school in the state. The school serves grades kindergarten through eighth grade and is open to all counties in the state. It is operated by for-profit company K12, Inc., and contracted through Union County Schools.